Coming Back Together
by the bean25
Summary: Greg has someone return to his life.  Greg, OC. Read and Review!


Disclaimer: I don't own any CSI characters, but the original character is mine. I did my best with what I knew was fact about Greg, and I hope it was right.

Greg walked into his apartment. He was exhausted. It had been a long day and he was ecstatic that it was finally over. He could relax in front of the TV and no one could call him into work. He went to his bedroom and kicked off his shoes then changed into a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. As he came back out to the living room he noticed the light on his answering machine flashing. He pushed the button and listened as he walked into the kitchen.

The first one: "Greg, it's mom. I was just calling to say hi. We haven't talked in a while I just wanted to make sure you were ok. Call me back please."

The second one: "Greg, it's Max," she paused and he suddenly stopped what he was doing. "I'm coming to town and I thought maybe we could get together and catch up. Uh, I'll be doing a wedding at the Venetian on Saturday, but I'll be there a couple days before and for a couple days after. I'll, uh, just give you a call later I guess. Bye." That was the end of the messages.

Greg stood in the kitchen half stunned. He couldn't believe that Max was calling him for the first time in seven years. He hadn't seen her since he left California, in fact if he was honest with himself he would admit that she had been the reason for him leaving. He picked up the glass of water he had poured for himself and went to the living room. He plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV keeping the volume low since he was still entrenched in his thoughts of Max.

The phone in his apartment rang. He grabbed the cordless receiver, cursing himself for not having caller ID. He pushed the talk button. "Hello?" he said.

"Hey, Greg, it's me. It's Max," she replied.

He fell onto the couch again. "Hey Max," he paused. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good. How about you?"

He could tell she felt as awkward as she did about the conversation. "I'm alright. So, you're in town?"

"Yeah, you know I'm planning weddings and one of my clients in San Diego wanted me to plan a wedding here. It's been hard but I've never been here before so I was looking forward to coming," she paused. "Then I remembered someone told me you moved here, so I called your mom and got your number, I hope you don't mind."

"No, no, that's fine."

"So, how is it being a CSI here?"

"It has its moments. I like it better than the lab except on days when it's crazy."

"Well the reason I called was that I was wondering if maybe we could get together for dinner while I'm here? You know so we can catch up."

Greg sighed. "Yeah, maybe we should."

"Well since I'm staying at the Venetian how about here, how about the Delmonico Steakhouse?"

"Sounds good, around seven?"

"Yeah, I'll see you then."

They said their goodbyes then Greg hung up the phone. He wasn't quite sure why he had just agreed to go to dinner with a girl he had dated so long ago. She had broken his heart and now it seemed she was trying to get back in his life.

Greg was in the locker room later on the next day. He was supposed to have met Max an hour before. He was staring down at his feet; he had been for the last ten minutes or so. He turned when he heard someone behind him. It was Catherine.

"Hey, Greg, you ok?" she asked as she opened her locker.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," he replied.

"Come on I can tell something's wrong."

He sighed heavily. "If you had dated someone who broke your heart, and they came back around, would you want to see them?"

She looked confused and sat down next to him. "Well, I guess it depends on how deep I had been cut."

"Uh, it was pretty deep."

"I guess the best thing to do would be to ask her what her motives were. Is she trying to get back with you or does she just want to be friends?"

"Yeah, that would probably be best," he hung his head again.

Catherine put her hand on his shoulder. "Hang in there, Greg."

He forced a smile. "Thanks."

Greg felt like an idiot for standing Max up. He could only imagine how angry and embarrassed she was sitting there in the restaurant alone. He knew he shouldn't have done it, but he wasn't quite sure how it would've turned out if he was there and it seemed he didn't want to know. He had contemplated trying to call her to apologize, but he couldn't do it.

It was now Saturday, the day Max was doing the wedding at the Venetian. Greg looked over at the clock. He thought about going over there and making it right to her. Finally, he grabbed his keys and phone and left the apartment.

He drove to the hotel. When he got inside he followed the arrow on the sign in the lobby telling him where the wedding was. He got to the doors to the ballroom, and two men approached him.

"I need to go inside," Greg told them.

"Do you have an invitation?" the one on his right asked him.

"No, I need to see Max, I mean Maxine the wedding planner."

"We can't let you inside without an invitation," the man on his left's tone was getting stern.

"Can you please just call her or something?"

Both of the guys looked at him like he was crazy then one of them got out a walkie-talkie and asked Max to come up front.

A few minutes later she came walking toward them. She was wearing a knee-length rust colored dress. Her hair was almost exactly the same as the last time he had seen her. She looked like a visionary. He realized just then how much he had missed her.

"Guys, it's ok. I'll take over here," she told the two men at the door. Then she said into her microphone, "Ali, I'll be back in time for the cake-cutting." She looked at Greg. "What are you doing here, Greg?"

"I, uh, I needed to see you," he paused and looked down then back at her. "I wanted to apologize about last night. I shouldn't have stood you up like I did."

"Listen, Greg-"

He held up his hand to stop her. "Let me finish," he paused. "Seven years ago I was head-over-heels for you, and you left me. You left without even saying goodbye. How did you expect me to feel, Maxine? I was crushed. And now you suddenly show up and I'm supposed to just welcome you back with open arms?" he had started to get enthusiastic.

"Can I please explain now?"

"Yeah."

She sighed. "Greg, seven years ago you and I were getting pretty serious, and honestly I just wasn't ready for that. So, when I got the opportunity to go to San Diego I took it," she hung her head as tears started to sting her eyes. "I'm so sorry I hurt you Greg. I was scared, and I know you were too. When I was asked to do this wedding I knew I was going to have to see you." A tear fell down her cheek as she looked into her eyes. "I miss you Greg, I know that might not be what you want to hear, but I'm being honest."

He put her hand on the side of his face. "Maxine," he paused. "I miss you too. And I know that we both were too young and not ready for where our relationship was going. But while we're being honest," he looked down then back up. "Max, I never stopped loving you."

She let her forehead fall against his. "I still love you too," she whispered.

He put his hands on her head and pushed his lips against hers. Then he wrapped his arms around her and hers around him. He heard someone speaking on her earpiece.

She closed her eyes then pulled away. "I'm sorry, Greg I have to get back to work."

He looked into her eyes then his cell phone rang. "I don't know if I should chalk this up to bad or good timing."

She smiled. "I don't know. Why don't you just give me a call when you're done working? I'll be up late so don't worry about the time."

"Alright," he smiled at her. "I'll call you later. It may be late."

She touched the side of his face and he put his hand on hers. They were smiling at each other. He kissed her gently then walked away.

"Alright, Ali, I'm coming," he laughed at her words as he headed down the hallway.

It was after one by the time Greg called Max. She said she was about finished cleaning up then she was heading up to her room. They had agreed for him to come to the hotel, so they could talk.

He knocked on the door and she opened less than a minute later. She was wearing a pair of pink pajama pants and a hooded sweatshirt. She looked tired and so did he.

"So, you're ready for bed, huh?" he asked as he walked into the hotel room.

"I had to get out of that dress. It wasn't very comfortable especially those heels."

He chuckled at her. He walked over to the couch and took a seat then she joined him. She laid her head on his shoulder.

"You know what I missed the most?" she asked.

"What's that?"

"This, right here. Just me and you doing nothing." She lifted her head to look him in the eyes.

The heat that was rising between them got to be too much for him. His lips found hers. He put his arms around her waist and she had her hands on the back of his head. He started to push her back on the couch as they kissed. "Wait," he pulled away. "Should we slow down?"

"I don't know we're kind of just picking up where we left off."

He contemplated for a second. "Yeah, I guess that's true." He picked up where they stopped.

In the morning Greg woke up with Max sleeping on his left arm. He realized that they were both naked in the hotel bed. He smiled at remembering the night before. He kissed the back of Max's head and started to pull his arm out from under her head. She began to stir and he paused. He continued and she kept sleeping. He pulled on his boxers and jeans then walked down the two small stairs to the living room area. He picked up the phone and the room service menu. He ordered them breakfast. As he hung up the phone he felt warms arms go around his waist.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said as he turned in her arms. He rubbed his hands on her arms.

"Hey," she replied with a smile. She had on a long white robe. "Did you order some coffee because I need coffee?"

"Yeah I did, it should be up in a few minutes."

When their breakfast came the two of them sat at the small table by the window and ate. They talked about his job and hers. And different things that they had each been doing since the last time they'd seen each other.

Greg walked into the lab with a huge smile on his face. Warrick was walking toward him. He looked at Greg with a smirk on his face. "What are you smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing, well something but…" Greg trailed his sentence.

"What happened to you between last night when I saw you and this morning?" Warrick gave him a look like he knew. "You got some, didn't you?"

Greg just smiled and started to walk away.


End file.
